eNews June 2008

Two recently announced features of LuraDocument PDF Compressor – multi-core processor support and form recognition/data extraction – are now available for purchase. These two new features are designed to provide users with a robust document processing solution that easily integrates with existing workflow systems.

Multi-Core Processor Support

Multi-core processor support enables users to process documents far faster while avoiding per page usage charges with LuraTech’s unique unlimited usage licensing structure.

Benefits of the multi-core support include:

• Significantly increased processing speed - Users, such as scan service providers, that have large quantities of documents to process can greatly increase throughput without making substantial changes to their workflow configuration.
• Easy to use and reliable - Set up is intuitive. Users can set the number of processor cores for use with a single mouse click, even while the system is operating.
• Faster return on investment - Since the multi-core license offers unlimited usage, it avoids page counting or volume-based billing and supports continuous operation without interruption.

Form Recognition & Data Extraction

Form recognition and data extraction eliminates the need for users to manually sort paper documents for processing and automatically extracts data for import into the appropriate back office systems.

Benefits of this new feature include:

• Simplicity - PDF Compressor Server has an intuitive graphic interface, making management of the process simple and flexibly supports different document conversion and optimization workflows.
• Single tool for process chain - Users no longer have to depend on a large number of individual tools that are configured and operated separately, or spend time and money integrating them. Because PDF Compressor Server supports the entire process chain, users can reduce set-up times, avoid custom development costs and put the solution into production quickly.
• Intuitive form definition - With the PDF Compressor's Form Designer, administrators can easily define the form recognition and data extraction rules to support a variety of forms.
• Faster return on investment - Reduces project costs for document input management and scanning service providers, as form recognition is included in the license model of PDF Compressor Server, which has no limits on the number of pages that are scanned or volume-based billing.

Adoption of PDF/A Offers Ideal Foundation for Long-Term Archival

Access to electronic documents – it’s an issue that many organizations don’t think about until it’s too late.  Imagine you’re the operator of a nuclear plant that is in the midst of a crisis situation. You need to access site plans that were digitally saved more than 20 years ago. But, because the file was created in an outdated format, you have no way to open it using the electronic document reader programs commonly in use today, and you have no time to develop a custom reader than can translate that document.

While this scenario sounds far-fetched, the risk is real.  Many highly regulated industries today are required to submit their documents to regulatory agencies in a very specific, proprietary file format. For most organizations, however, that format rarely meets their unique internal requirements for long-term access and archiving. And despite the incongruity, many organizations often forgo their internal needs in order to blindly follow what others are doing.

The Vision: Open, Non-Proprietary Standards

One solution is for organizations and the agencies that regulate them to adopt open, non-proprietary standards – such as PDF/A – which guarantee long-term accessibility and ensure the security and validity of documents. PDF/A can easily be adopted by organizations to meet their own electronic archiving needs, while still supporting the necessary regulatory guidelines.

So why is there such hesitancy for organizations to move to the PDF/A standard? We believe there are two key factors:

• Use Case Confusion – Organizations often wrongly assume that they share the same sets of requirements and uses of archived material with other similar groups. For example, in the nuclear industry, all documents must be submitted as PDFs according to the specific requirements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which enable hyper linking between different PDF files. While those documents meet the NRC’s internal review process, they may not be optimized for a nuclear plant’s strategic requirements, which include guaranteed, long-term access to all signed and verified documents. Long-term accessibility is not possible using the NRC’s file format requirements because content may be lost if hyper links are broken.  PDF/A is much better suited to a nuclear plant’s long-term archival needs because it disallows hyper linking to outside document so the original electronic documents are completely self-contained and self-referencing.
• The “Wait and See” Approach – Many organizations wait to adopt new technology – such as a file format – until several other organizations and agencies adopt it first. Their reasoning: if there is a critical mass using it, the file format will become a de facto standard and it will be supported adequately.  While believing that there is “safety in numbers” when adopting a proprietary standard, this strategy offers users no real value with regard to meeting their own internal needs. Because PDF/A is an ISO standard, users have the ultimate in safety because publication of the standard guarantees future support. And because PDF, itself, has already achieved critical mass, it too will be supported in the long-term.

Implementing long-term archival using PDF/A is not as complex as you may think.  In fact it is as easy as starting with scanned documents that can be automatically output to PDF/A, easily meeting organizations’ requirements of guaranteed long-term access to information.

Southern Co. – an operator of nuclear plants – understands the costs and risks of relying on proprietary file formats. The company has taken the lead in the nuclear industry by moving to PDF/A to ensure that all of its records will be easily accessible long into the future, meeting its internal archiving needs while still being able to comply with national regulatory reporting requirements.  The company can easily reprocess the documents it files with the NRC with a PDF/A tool to ensure that they will have no problem accessing information over the life of its nuclear plants.

Additionally, organizations can protect the integrity of its data with the electronic digital signature feature inherent to PDF/A. The digital signature is placed in the PDF/A document to show that it is valid and authentic and, if someone changes the document, the digital signature is broken and users are aware that alterations have been made.

Avoiding Future Costs and Building Efficiencies

The longer organizations and agencies delay the move to an open standard, the more problems – and the more costs – they can incur.  In the case of the nuclear industry, the support of multiple, closed filed formats for long-term storage will exacerbate the problem over time as the various file types are saved through different technologies. The longer an organization waits to move to PDF/A, the bigger the conversion project will become and the greater the chance that software will be unavailable to access the aging file formats.

PDF/A also enables organizations to become more efficient with regard to storage and transmission of digital information because the standard supports best-in-class compression and image quality. For example, LuraTech has helped two organizations reduce their storage requirements by 90 percent and improve electronic transfer and sharing capabilities by reducing file sizes from 8 megabits to 80 kilobits per page.

PDF/A also supports full-document search capabilities, enabling users to quickly find the information they need across a multitude of files.

The Most Important Requirements – Your Organization’s

Just like the Southern Co., all organizations must closely examine the internal document management issues they are trying to resolve – independent of what others may be doing – to ensure that their long-term strategic goals are being met.

With an open, non-proprietary solution like PDF/A, there is no need to gain a critical mass of support for a single file format and organizations greatly mitigate their risk of adopting a solution that cannot best meet their requirements.

Earlier this month, LuraTech unveiled its new web site. We’ve made it easier to navigate, providing you with more information and offering quick access to many product demos. We’ve also upgraded the site so you can now purchase and download your software immediately. So not only will you still experience the same great, responsive customer service to which you’ve been accustomed, you’ll be able to learn about – as well as try and buy – our menu of products at the click of a button.

LuraTech was honored with a Best Solutions Award at the Government Technology Conference West (GTC West) for the implementation of its LuraDocument PDF Compressor by client eBizDocs for New York State’s Education Department and Office of Mental Health. 

The award – presented on May 14 at GTC West’s Conference on California’s Future in Sacramento – recognizes industry technology solutions designed to address the needs of state and local government. In order to qualify for the Best Solutions award, the solution must be a joint custom development between a government agency and a partnering firm.  The solution must have resulted in significant benefits - saved time, money, or headaches - and be worthy of recognition. 

eBizDocs used LuraTech’s LuraDocument PDF Compressor to scan and compress millions of pages of color and black-and-white legal and medical documents that needed to be digitally archived by New York State’s Education Department and Office of Mental Health. The Education Department alone had 1,000 boxes of employee application files dating back to 1995 – over 44 million pages of records – that needed to be electronically archived. And, the agency expects to have another 2 million pages a year to add to their archives. The Office of Mental Health had more than 1,200 boxes – or 9 million pages – of medical records, charts and notes that required digital archiving.  Adding to the complexity of their project were the HIPAA confidentiality requirements, which were designed to ensure the records remained secure once they were digitized by enabling only authorized users access through a centralized database.

LuraDocument PDF Compressor’s PDF/A and mixed raster content (MRC) compression capabilities enabled eBizDocs to deliver high-quality replication of original documents for long-term storage.

U.S. Customers

• Cangene Corporation - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• CineForm, Inc. - LuraWave JP2 Software Development Kit
• Digital Scanning, Inc. - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• Focused Technologies - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• Oregon Department of Transportation - LuraWave JP2 Command-Line Tool
• Southern Company Service - LuraDocument PDF Compressor with PDF/A Solutions
• Southern Nuclear Operating Co. - LuraDocument PDF Compressor with PDF/A Solutions
• Stair Systems Inc. - LuraWave JP2 Software Development Kit

International Customers

• AllBidigit – LuraDocument PDF Compressor 
• Bank Leumi, Schweiz - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• DAK – LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• DataPerform GmbH - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• Department of Lands, Australia - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• Dynevo GmbH - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• Oce-Deutschland GmbH (Partner) - LuraDocment PDF Compressor for customers Lafarge, Linde AG, Deutsche Bahn, Vattenfall and more
• Ratiodata IT Lösungen - LuraDocument PDF Compressor
• Telefunken Racoms GmbH & Co. KG - LuraWave JP2 Software Development Kit
• VSE AG – LuraDocument PDF Compressor

LuraTech Welcomes Three New Employees

We are proud to announce three new members of the LuraTech team:

• Jerry Ciarpelli, Director of Sales
• Jurgen Linde, Account Manager
• Jaime Merz, Marketing Manager

New Channel Partners

eBiz Docs

E-BizDocs is an award-winning, Albany, N.Y.-based,  electronic document management service provider that is committed to helping companies, state agencies, local governments and other organizations find electronic solutions to otherwise inefficient record management systems.

Master Enterprises Inc. - Your Digital Source

Master Enterprises Inc. (MEI), based in Atlanta, Georgia, offers a broad range of end-to-end document imaging and print on demand solutions that complement the LuraTech software suite.  MEI’s product lines include digitization services (loose sheet, books, microfilm/microfiche, large format items), scanning equipment, data capture and OCR correction, and print on demand programs (including online visibility to a global retail audience).  Through this unique approach, MEI remains a leader as “your digital source” by filling the gaps, maximizing efficiencies, and achieving the greatest returns for our clients’ investment.

U.S. Events

NIRMA
Summerlin, NV, United States
10 - 13 August 2008

President Mark McKinney will give an overview of PDF/A and will participate in round-table discussion on formats.

International Events

German Library Day
Mannheim, Germany
3 - 6 June 2008

Level 1, Booth 130

Meet with LuraTech’s Thomas Zellmann who will be exhibiting in conjunction with the PDF/A Competence Center, where he serves as chairman.

DIN/ANP Regional Group Meeting East
Leipzig, Germany
10 June 2008

Executive Director Carsten Heiermann will give a presentation on the PDF/A standard and its usage for archiving technical drawings and product documentation.

Scanpoint Open House
Waldbronn, Germany
16 June 2008

Executive Director Carsten Heiermann will give a presentation on the PDF/A standard for scanned documents and answer the question: "PDF/A - Hype or archiving format of the future?"

IS&T Conference
Bern, Switzerland
24 - 26 June 2008

LuraTech’s Thomas Zellmann, who also serves as chairman of the PDF/A Competence Center, will present the paper "PDF/A: ISO Standard for Long-Term Archiving." The paper was written by Zellmann and Klaus Jung.

DMS EXPO
Cologne, Germany
9 - 11 September 2008

German Archive Day
Erfurt, Germany
16 - 18 September 2008

Thomas Zellmann exhibiting with the PDF/A Competence Center on behalf of LuraTech.

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